MsLatte’s Daebak Cybercafé (Kdrama addicts #13)

[boatyardblues]

A quiet corner of MN for serious addicts of Kdrama, or the Kdrama-curious. (MsLatte is a Her Private Life reference.) Most of our viewing is drawn from Netflix and Viki, with a sprinkling of Dramabus (non subscription, maybe dodgy) and AmazonPrime. 

The previous thread is here but our ‘Addicts Recommend’ list below is cumulative so includes recommendations and favourites from all previous threads.


Shows marked with an asterisk are more uniformly loved or admired. In categorising series, its important to note most Korean dramas have multiple strands - e.g. supernatural, romance and a thriller; crime series with fantasy elements. Genre-busting mash-ups are normal. Series that are tagged as dark may also have moments of comedy or the absurd, likewise fluff can have heavier moments. View the categories below as best approximate & ask if you need guidance, eg about suitability for younger teens.

Comedy (with a side order of absurd)

I picked up a celebrity on the street (Viki)
My Fellow Citizens (Viki)

Crime/Thriller

Come and Hug Me (Dramafast)
Graceful Family (Viki)
Healer (Netflix)*
Heartless City (Viki)
He is Psychometric (Viki)
I Hear Your Voice (Netflix /Viki)
Life on Mars (classy remake of BBC series, Dramafast)
My Secret Terrius (Netflix)*
Suspicious Partner (Netflix)*
The Lies Within (Netflix)*
Tunnel (Netflix)*

Historical/Period drama (“sageuk”)
Crowned Clown (Viki)*
Mr Sunshine (Netflix)
Rookie Historian Goo Hae-Ryung (Netflix)
Tale of Nokdu (Viki)*

Romance - lighter & fluffier
Beating Again (Netflix)
Coffee Prince (Netflix)
Don’t Dare to Dream (Netflix, or as Jealousy Incarnate on Viki)*
Gogh, The Starry Night (Viki)

Happy Once Again (Netflix)
Her Private Life (Viki)*

His Master’s Sun (Netflix)

Love from a Star (Netflix)*
Pinocchio (Netflix)
Radio Romance (Netflix)

Romance is the Bonus Book (Netflix)*

She Was Pretty (Dramabus/Netflix)*
The Beauty Inside (Viki/Netflix)
The Secret Life of My Secretary (Viki/Netflix)
Thirty Not Seventeen (Viki) or as Still 17 (Netflix)
Weightlifting Fairy Kim Bok Joo (Netflix/Viki)
What’s Up With Secretary Kim (Viki)*
You are my Destiny (Netflix)


Romance - heavier weight/more grown up themes

Another Miss Oh (Netflix)*
Because This Is My First Life (Viki/Netflix)
Chicago Typewriter (Viki/Netflix)
Crash Landing on You (Netflix)**
Descendants of the Sun (Viki/Netflix)
Doctors (Netflix)
Fight For My Way (Viki/Drama bus)*
Go Back Couple (Viki)
Just Between Lovers (Viki)*
Melo is my Nature (Viki)/Be Melodramatic (Dramafast)
My Strange Hero (Viki)
One Spring Night (Netflix)
Red Carpet - film (Netflix, very adult content)
Romantic Dr Kim - seasons 1&2 (Viki)
Search: WWW (Viki)*
Something in the Rain (Netflix)
The Package (Viki)



Straighter ‘Slice of Life’ dramas on universal themes
Live (Netflix)
Prison Playbook (Netflix)*

Stove League (Viki)

Supernatural/zombies/vampires/fantasy/sci-fi - lighter & fluffier

Goblin (Viki)*

I am not a Robot (Netflix)
Legend of the Blue Sea (Viki/Netflix)
My Holo Love (Netflix)*
Orange Marmalade (Netflix)

While You Were Sleeping (Viki)*



Supernatural/zombies/vampires/fantasy/sci-fi - darker/more grown up themes

Black (Netflix)*
Hotel del Luna (Viki)*
Kingdom (Netflix)*

The Guest (Dramafast)
Train to Busan - film (Amazon Prime)

W (Viki & Netflix)*



Guilty Pleasures (for the joy, not the quality)
Bride of Habaek (Netflix)
Hwarang (Viki/Netflix)
The Last Empress (Viki/Netflix)
Sassy Go Go (Netflix)



Mad as a box of frogs/uncategorisable

Strong Girl Bong Soon (Netflix)

Not Korean but just try it
Regulars occasionally branch out into Japanese, Taiwanese and Chinese drama. The Chinese & Taiwanese stuff is much more variable quality-wise, so we’ve noted anything decent here:

Before We Get Married (Viki - Taiwanese)
Love O2O (Viki - Chinese)
Morning Call (Netflix - Japanese)
Put Your Head on My Shoulder (Netflix - Chinese)

Thread Regulars’ Top 5 Dramas of 2019
(courtesy of Hello’s kdrama spreadsheet, scores range from +10 if very good to -10 for truly awful)

1. Her Private Life - 9.40 (5 votes)
2. Melo is My Nature - 9.00 (5 votes)

3.= Crash Landing On You, The Crowned Clown, The Lies Within, and The Tale of Nokdu - 8.75 (4 votes)

1. Hotel del Luna - 8.50 (4 votes)

5.= Romance is a Bonus Book, and Search: WWW - 8.17 (6 votes)

We are generally fans of all things Korean, so equally happy to talk about Korean cookery, language, film and music when the mood takes us.



We have a few frequently used acronyms:
FL/2FL = female lead/2nd female lead
ML/2ML = male lead/2nd male lead
SLS = Second Lead Syndrome (where the FL/ML is too dense to realise the 2ML/2FL is better)
🥾🍑 (boot, peach) = kick up the arse to go to bed



We also abbreviate titles if they’re long, but usually with an obvious abbreviation. Some favourite actors & actresses have been abbreviated for speed/efficiency, eg Park Min Young (PMY), Kim Jae Wook (KJW). Don’t be afraid to ask for help/clues if we’re not making sense or have descended into acronym soup.



If you want to join us down the kdrama rabbit hole, welcome! Pull up a chair, say goodbye to early nights and get stuck in…

I've added your scores when you've put them on here, eg CLOY, but there are gaps

You've reminded me to update my scores on the spreadsheet 👍.
Im going to catch up on Itaewon Class today and then some of My Mister. I'm now up to ep 5 and it's much more enjoyable.

There’s something else I like about Signal. The FL works in a very macho environment and looks supercool in denim, leather jackets, puffa jackets, biker boots and trainers, but her Mum still makes her wear wall-to-wall pink at home and is desperate to marry her off.

Was anyone else shouting “call for back up!” in the crescendo of the depressed women case? I just shouted it at the telly.

(In Signal again, obvs. It’s very tense.)

I also loved how FLs mum is all over the ML when he comes round 🤣🤣

FL is also in Hyena on Netflix which has v v good reviews - may start that

In WTF news, I’ve had an email from Netflix headed “Don’t Forget to Finish Signal!” I was making Sunday lunch guys, don’t get your knickers in a twist! This is an altogether unwelcome shift from the useful updates about new stuff I might like to stalkerish behaviour.

Emails from Netflix have turned into an obsessive and overly involved friendship with a nice guy who just wants to message you all the time.

I'll get working on spreadsheet updates if there is any needed. I know I've got some scores and dramas to add.

Thanks Hello. I’ve just reviewed the spreadsheet & these are my updates:

Dr Kim 2 = 7
Holo Love 8
Parasite 9.5
Hotel de Luna 7
My Love from a Star 6
My Secret Terrius 8
Bride of Habaek 6
Train to Busan 8.5

I noticed there’s some doubling up for the shows that were still airing over the new year. Should we merge them - and if yes, under the year they finished airing, or the year they started?

Also, I like the colour coding on pre-2019. Can we have that on all sheets?

Hahaha you're so demanding boatyard ! But while we're on it hello, we could get rid of the 2019 dramas no one has watched yet, as the original list I made has some no one is ever going to watch and we can always add them later if we do watch them....or leave the ones on like Haechi that are actually on Netflix so we prob will get round to watching them at some point (although that has Korean Knightly in it so I might not...)

And I've done my usual thing of adding new ones at the bottom as I'm scared of sodding it all up

Yes, sorry for the multiple suggestions/demands. Just be thankful you’re not DH. 😉

I like the scene in Signal where FL turns up at the morgue in her blind date outfit (chosen by her Mum) and ML’s reaction. 😂

I'm just doing the colour coding now and then it'll be lovely and shiny. For series that cross years, should we go by the year it ends so we can take the endings into account?

I was thinking about that earlier & wondered how they are listed on Netflix, Viki, Wiki and/or IMDB.

CLOY is 2019 on Wiki summaries, 2019- on IMDB and it gives the full broadcast dates on the full wiki entry.

And 2019 on Netflix.

Hmm. So they've listed it with the year in which the majority of episodes aired? Or have they done it by when they started? I cant remember when CLOY started

Wiki says the CLOY broadcast dates were December 14, 2019 – February 16, 2020. In some respects listing the start year ties up with films, which go by release date, not when the run finished.

If everyone is cool with that, I'll go through the sheets when I've got some time tomorrow and find any year straddlers and put them under the year they started. You're right that it makes it easier to put films in then as well without having too many special rules for what goes where.

On a sad person note, I've loved putting the condition formatting on all the pages and deleting excess shows. It's just so nice and clean to look at now. I've got to give myself a 🥾🍑 or I'll be messing around with it all night.

Thanks for all the work on the spreadsheet 👍. I'm well into My Mister now. The relationships are all so lovely. Loan Shark Park Morgan is v horrible though. Ive just lolled at the ML being described as Mark Darcey. I think there are some intricacies I'm missing out on eg I've just realised the Monk is the ex of the woman who runs the bar. Or was it supposed to be revealed then?

On a sad person note, I've loved putting the condition formatting on all the pages and deleting excess shows.

Thank you for saying this. I feel less bad about asking you for so many changes.

And thank you looking after our spreadsheets.

I've just realised the Monk is the ex of the woman who runs the bar. Or was it supposed to be revealed then?

That’s correct. It’s all like that. There’s no Basil Exposition character who comes wading in to explain the relationships Austin Powers-style. You just glean snippets and hints as you go.

The thing that made me hoot about My Mister is how bad ML’s singing is at the noraebang. I read up a bit on him because MIL said how much she liked his voice in Parasite. He comes from a very successful musical theatre background before going into film/TV. He must have an amazing voice IRL but his noraebang turn in My Mister could curdle milk.